hack PRESENT
by FalconSword-7
Summary: A story I based off the .hackGIFT episode. CC Corp has announced of an event where players must seek a Special Spring of Myst. But deep within the fields, something sinister lurks about. The event may not go as planned.
1. Begin

.hackPRESENT

This story was influenced by the events of the .hackGIFT episode. And yes, some characters may seem OOC here and in future chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own .hack

CHAPTER 1: BEGIN

It was a quiet day in Mac Anu when Kite heard the familiar e-mail tone from the speaker in his neuro-goggles. He logged out to find two new e-mails. One from CC Corp. and the other from Blackrose. He read the one from CC Corp. first.

_Dear "The World" User,_

_We are happy to announce that there will be a special event being held at OMEGA: Humorous Revised Episode. Players will form parties of three and gather at this area. From there, they will need to search all servers and any areas to find a "Gifted Spring of Myst." A very special item awaits in this spring. What is this item you may ask? That, you must find out on your own. Good luck!_

_-CC Corporation_

He then looked at the one from Blackrose

_Hey Kite,_

_I'm sure you got the e-mail from CC Corp. (it was sent to all players). Meet me at The Lambda server and we can form a party there._

_-Blackrose_

Moments later, Kite had logged in and warped to Carmina Gadalica. "Hey, Blackrose, why is it that you tend to always pull me into taking you with me to these things like the eight phases or any other event?"

"Well, because I just lo… well, forget about that. We need a third party member. Who can we take?" Blackrose said, changing the subject.

"Well, let's see…" Kite said as he started flipping through his list of contacts. "It seems there are only three that are available: Marlo, Piros, and Mistral."

"Bring Mistral. I can't stand that drunken slob or that fatso with cheesy dialogue."

"Okay. Sending Flash Mail." Kite sent the Flash Mail and Mistral appeared at the Chaos Gate in moments.

"Hey!Soarewegoingnow? Whatkindofadventureareofftotoday? Huh?Where?Huh?Whatarewegoingtodo,huh?" Mistral said in a very quick pace.

"Have you been high on sugar or something Mistral?" Blackrose asked.

"Whome?Nowhywouldyoueverthinkthat?" Mistral said in the same hyper tone.

"You… sigh, nevermind, we need to hurry to OMEGA: Humorous Revised Episode and sign up for the event."

"Right, I'll get us there now." Kite said as he stepped to the Chaos Gate and selected the Omega server. The three found themselves in the city of Lia Fail (which was really Net Slum).

"You know what I hate? We already went through the phases and risked our lives for the coma victims and defeated the cursed wave and they still haven't fixed this town! Don't you agree Mistral? …. Hm? Mistral? Hey, where'd she go?" Blackrose's question was soon answered by the yelling of shopkeepers running after the wavemaster as she sped through the town with armfuls of stolen candy and other sweets while leaving large clouds of dust behind as she ran.

"Getaway!Mycandy!minemineminemine!" Yelled Mistral.

"I think maybe her cooking had an effect on her brain…" Kite said as he sweatdropped.

Moments after catching Mistral and returning the stolen sweets, they arrived in a snowy field where Kite found many familiar faces.

"Hey! I thought you'd show up for something like this." Orca said as he walked up to Kite.

"Well, I don't have a lot to do now that the wave is gone. Who's in your party Yasuhiko?"

"Will you quit calling me that in 'The World'! Oh, and I've got Balmung with me as well as Sanjuro." Balmung then walks up to Kite.

"Even though we are allies, don't expect me to let you win. I will fight you if I must!" Balmung said.

"You mean lose again like how you did in that sparring match you had with me yesterday where you fell off the bridge in the dungeon?" Kite asked while giving a slight chuckle.

"Don't you ever bring up that event again! And besides, you put that banana peel on the ground! You cheated! You know there's now way for characters in most RPGs to have a way of jumping or finding ways out of pits!"

"You have wings Balmung. You could have just flew out."

"… I knew that… I just didn't want to waist this precious part of my avatar in such a trivial situation." Balmung said, trying to act cool and as if actually knowing.

"…fool…" said a twinblade from behind the two groups.

"Hi Moonstone. Who's in your group?" Kite asked.

"We meet again Kite." Gardenia said as she walked next to Moonstone.

"Ah! He of Fair Eyes! We meet again, and I must say, I am excited to take what lies in the unknown spring of Weapon and Equipment enhancement!" Piros said, walking to the other side of Moonstone.

"Ah, Hi Piros…" '_Blackrose was right, he does have cheesy dialogue, but anyone could have figured that from the start_…' Kite thought.

"Why don't I just kill you, ya faggot!" A vulgar wavemaster yelled to the heavy axeman.

"Marlo… who's in…" Kite began.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you're just being your curious self and asking who's in whose group. Jeez, that's annoying to me!"

"Well, do you mind telling me?"

"Fine, whatever. Nuke and Rachel. Ya happy?"

"You really shouldn't be so rude Marlo." Said a green-haired, blue clad twinblade approaching the groups.

"Hi Natsume." Kite greeted.

"Hello Kite. I tried sending you a Flash Mail and ask to join me in this event, but you didn't respond."

"Hm? Oh…" Kite just realized that the "You have new Mail" message was blinking in the corner of the screen in his neuro-goggles. "sorry, I didn't notice it. I guess I was side tracked in a sticky task…" Kite said as he looked over to Mistral who was licking her fingers of any sugar left on them from the candy she tried to swipe. "And sorry, but I already have two party members with me."

"No worries, I have Terajima and Wiseman with me."

"Why do we have to have that old coot on our team? I want Kite as a party member!" whined Terajima "Now that I think about it, why do you always team up with Blackrose?"

"Yeah, why do you?" Natsume said, now she and Terajima giving Kite a slight glare.

"Well, you see, I was actually pulled into…" Kite began.

"Attention all players!" An NPC shouted from a stage in the center of the field "We will now begin the event. The rules for this event are simple. All parties must search anywhere within 'The World' and find the Special Spring of Myst, where ever it may be. The following are all the teams that have been registered…" a large screen appeared next to the NPC that displayed the party and its group members. Kite ran his eyes down the list looking for the ones he recognized.

Kite, Blackrose, Mistral

Balmung, Orca, Sanjuro

Moonstone, Gardenia, Piros

Marlo, Nuke, Rachel

Natsume, Terajima, Wiseman

Subaru, Krim, Silver Knight

Mia, Elk, Tsukasa

Mimiru, Bear, BT

"This is it Kite. We better win!"

"Yeahyeahyeahyeah!Winwinwin!Iwannaseethatspecialspringandgetwhatever'sinitandaddittomycollection!"

"Well, if I'm correct, the event will start in just a few moments." Kite said looking at his bracelet in "clock mode".

"All groups have been registered" the NPC stated "At my mark, the event will begin and all groups will be teleported back to the OMEGA server root town. All groups will begin…………..NOW!"

NEXT CHAPTER: FOLLOW THE BRACELET

Preview: Kite and his party begin their search. The bracelet shines and stirs suspicion as the transparent blue and green shards point toward the dungeon.

Please review. Oh, and please, no flames.


	2. Follow the Bracelet

.hackPRESENT

Disclaimer: I don't own .hack

CHAPTER 2: FOLLOW THE BRACELET

All groups stood in OMEGA: Humorous Revised Episode. Nothing happened at the NPC's call to start the event.

"Uh, our apologies, because there are so many players here, there was an overload in teleporting all of you to the root town. You'll have to go there by regular means of gating out." As soon as the NPC was finished talking, all players were rushing to gate out first and get a head start in the search for the spring.

"What are you waiting for! Gate us out now Kite!" Blackrose yelled to her orange-red clad partner.

"Huh? Oh, right!" Kite gated them back to Lia Fail. "Okay, where should we start looking first?"

"Let's go to the Delta server. We could go through the fields with ease at our levels."

"Right!" Kite selected the Delta Server and gated out to Mac Anu.

"HUH!" Mistral said, trying to sneak candy from the shop again. "AH! No!" With that, Mistral was warped to Mac Anu with the two others.

Golden rings disappeared as the group came into view. There were already players asking about the spring and others who were stocking on items.

"Okay, we'll start at the top of the list and go down. DELTA: Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field!" Kite said as the trio found themselves in the grassy field. The field where Kite began his whole journey. He stood there and closed his eyes. "Ah… this brings back memories…"

"HELLOOO!" Blackrose yelled in his ear.

"Ah! Huh? Yeah?"

"We don't have time for flashbacks! We need to get going. According to someone I spoke to earlier, the spring can even be located in a dungeon. So let's move!" Blackrose grabbed Kite's and Mistral's arm and rushed over to the dungeon.

The dungeon was the same as Kite remembered. The group walked past the two chests at the entrance and searched down the hallway.

"I wonder what item is at the spring?" Kite thought out loud.

"It's obviously some sort of ultra-powerful weapon that can slay any monster with one blow!" Blackrose said while envisioning herself casually walking through a level 99 dungeon killing monsters left and right without worry. Her thoughts were interrupted by the familiar sound that went off whenever Kite's bracelet appeared. "Huh? Hey, what's up?"

"I don't know…" Kite said as he looked at his bracelet made of green and blue transparent shards. The five arrows that always appeared in Data Drain flashed in front and pointed down the stair way. "This has never happened before… I guess it's telling me to go down."

"Well whatever. I'm going downstairs anyway. Plus, according to the board, all gott treasures were reset, so it's full again!" The heavyblade walked down to B2 with the twinblade following. They entered the gott statue room to find Natsume, Terajima, and Wiseman. "Hey? What are you doing here?"

"Well, we were searching for the special Spring of Myst, but it seems it's not here. I figured we might just take what's in the gott treasure chest, but all that's there was this yellow candy and…AAAH!" Wiseman fell to the ground, hands covering his crouch as he moaned in pain as another wavemaster swiped the yellow candy away from his hands.

"Mycandy!Mine!mine!Mineminemine!" Kite and Blackrose had totally forgotten that Mistral was with them. The hyper wavemaster ran up the stairs and to the floor above. Blackrose, Natsume, and Terajima just fell to the floor laughing at what Mistral had done to the old guy. The heavyblade stopped and took advantage of this opportunity and grabbed Kite's arm and pulled out a sprite ocarina to warp themout of the dungeon while Terajima was still laughing.

"HAHAAHAAa…huh?… AH! They left! We need to hurry! We can't let them beat us to the spring!" Terajima exclaimed.

"Yes… uh oh, I forgot to buy a sprite ocarina. No matter, let's run out!" both girls left the room, leaving Wiseman on the ground.

"Uggggh…. Hey...wait… ugggh… not even my recovery… spells can help me with this…ugggghh….."

Back in Mac Anu, Mistral made a quick stop to Elf's Haven to store away any extra items she had.

"Do you really think kicking Wiseman _there_ was really necessary?" Kite asked.

"GottamakesureIgothiscandy!Betterbesafethansorry."

"Uh, yeah. Well, let's go to another field…" Kite walked to the chaos gate and warped them to DELTA: Enclosed Vindictive Sipping Bug. The field was a desert with the red sky of a sunset. Kite used a fairy's orb to check for any magic portals. "This place has been cleared of portals… someone must already be here."

"Well, we can't let them take the prize!" the pink-haired heavyblade said, running off toward the dungeon. As few moments after beginning to run, Kite's bracelet began to point in the direction of the dungeon.

"Huh? This again…?" Kite began to scratch his head.

"It's pointing in the direction of the dungeon… hm… HEY! I think I know! That bracelet must be acting like a compass!"

"A compass?"

"Yeah! It must lead us to clues of sorts or anything that will lead us to the spring!"

"Hm… now that I think about it, I found a virus core near the gott room statue at the Passed over Aqua field before we warped out."

"That's it! The virus cores must spell out an area name or be the cores needed to hack to gate to the area! HAHA! This is great! We're a shoe-in to win! Man, I love you Kite!"

"Wha…HUH?" a shocked Kite said, looking to his heavyblade partner. Blackrose realized what she said and began talking again.

"Uh… for the bracelet. Without you, we wouldn't be able to use it! Now come on!" she grabbed Mistral's arm and a very perplexed Kite's arm and ran off to the dungeon.

Meanwhile at the dungeon in DELTA: Enclosed Vindictive Sipping Bug

"We haven't found anything in the past 5 dungeons." The winged Descendant of Fianna said.

"Hey, there are practically an infinite number of areas here in 'The World'. I doubt we'd find the spring by just checking a few." Orca said to his partner.

"Hm… you're right Yasuhiko."

"Huh? What'd you call me!"

"Uh… sorry Orca. I've been training with Kite too much lately."

"Geez, by the time we're through with this, the whole 'World' will know my real name!"

"Hm… now that I think about it…" Balmung's memory just sparked "This is the area where Kite beat me the other day…"

"You mean where you slipped off the edged?" Orca said, trying to contain a laugh.

"I thought I made it clear never to mention an event like that in front of me ever!" Balmung snapped with veins marks appearing all over his forehead.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's keep going." Orca traversed across the hallway. For a brief moment, he heard another set of footsteps behind him. He assumed Sanjuro had just returned from checking the other room, but called himself an ass for assuming wrong. A quick glare of silver went by his neck and he fell to the ground, his character model loosing its color.

"Hm? Orca?" Balmung looked to the side to see his partner laying on the ground, dead. "AH! ORCA! What happened here!"

"Hey, I'm back. Nothing was in that room and…HUH? Balmung! What did you do to Orca?" Sanjuro shouted.

"What? It wasn't me! I just found him like this a few seconds after I looked away."

"Well, there's no one else in this level of the dungeon, and you're the only one who went with Orca when we split. So it has to be you!"

"No! We are the Descendants of Fianna! I would never kill my own partner!"

"Hey? What's all ruckus down here?" a voice came from the staircase. Kite and his party entered to see Orca on the ground. "A colorless character model? Orca's been killed!"

"Yeah, betrayed by his own…" Sanjuro began.

"It wasn't me! Why would I want to kill Orca? He just came out of a coma not too long ago! I would never do such a thing!"

"Mm-hm…. Suuure…." Blackrose said, not believing the winged knight.

"Playerkillerplayerkillerplayerkiller!" Mistral began pointing at Balmung.

"I'm telling the truth! Kite, you believe me, don't you?"

"…so… it's true…" Kite said. Balmung fell over anime style.

"What do you mean 'so it's true'? _YOU _don't even believe me!"

"Well, during that sparring match the other day, you did mention a number of angry remarks about Orca… and now I see him dead…"

"So, he was planning this all along!" Blackrose said.

"What! I was just angry because he's owed me 2000 GP for more than a two weeks now! He promised that he'd pay me back so I could purchase the Made In Heaven Sword and…"

"Aha! So it's rivalry! You wanted to be stronger than Orca and by not getting your item to make you stronger, you went and killed him!" Sanjuro shouted.

"NOO! That's not it! I didn't kill him! I…" Balmung stopped upon seeing the 3 players in front of him giving him a glare.

NEXT CHAPTER: FUGITIVE OF THE AZURE SKY

Preview: News flash! Balmung of the Azure Sky has betrayed and killed his partner Orca of the Azure Sea. The winged knight is currently hopping from field to field now avoiding players who take pity on Orca's misfortune. More news tomorrow.

Please Review. Oh, and no flames please.


	3. Fugitive of the Azure Sky

.hack/PRESENT

disclaimer: Like one would have guessed, I do not own .hack

CHAPTER 3: FUGITIVE OF THE AZURE SKY

"WHAT!" shouted Balmung upon seeing a wanted poster with a poorly drawn image of him (one that looks like it's from .hack/GIFT). "They've put a bounty on my head!" despite Balmung's popularity with many of the players, he doubted that no one would give up an opportunity to receive 999,999,999 GP.

"999,999,999 GP!" yelled Rachel "We need to catch that Balmung!"

"But what about finding the Spring?" Nuke asked.

"Forget about that! I'd prefer a reward like this any day over some stupid mystery item."

"Are you forgetting something? It's Balmung of the Azure whatever! Do you know how damn high his level is?" Marlo said.

"Well there's three of us and one of him. We could all attack at once." Rachel said.

"Yeah, plus, I liked Orca better than Balmung, so I say let's get him." Nuke added. With that, the trio began to assemble their plan.

Meanwhile at the THETA server root town.

"2 A's, 1 B, 4 K's, and an S." Kite said, counting up the virus cores he's collected.

"These cores aren't spelling anything and we haven't run across any protected areas." Blackrose pointed out.

"Maybe there's another reason to these virus cores. I mean, the bracelet wouldn't lead me to them for no reason."

"Whatever. Let's get going. The event's still taking place." With that the duo warped to THETA: Quiet Oblivious Fort Walls. They found themselves in a desert like region with the sky red.

"Hey, isn't Mistral suppose to be with us?" asked the twinblade.

"Hm? Yeah, where is she?" wondered the heavyblade. Kite's bracelet began glowing again and the five arrows pointed toward the dungeon.

"I guess we can look for her later. For now, let's get the virus core."

"Oh fine. Let's go." The duo ran off to the dungeon, but unbeknownst to them, Balmung was hiding in the same field, under a number of old ruins.

'_This is the only place where I can go without being seen. Hm… Orca… I will find the real culprit. I am Balmung of the Azure Sky! And I won't be accused for this false crime!'_ he thought as he jumped out from under the ruins in a triumphant manner.

"AHA! There he is!" yelled Marlo from a distance.

"Hm? Marlo?" the vulgar blademaster began slashing at the winged knight, barely missing every shot. "Marlo, what do you think you're doing?"

"Hold still will ya? I'm here for your damn head!" He took another swing and missed.

'_So, he's after the bounty… with even my own allies against me, this will prove difficult…_' Balmung turned around to run, but crashed into a familiar piece of green armor.

"He of the Azure Sky! I have come to contain you and collect my reward!"

"Piros! Keep your damn nose out of this! His head's mine!" Marlo yelled.

"The one of a nasty tongue! Thou wish to challenge me to the Winged one's bounty?"

"If you're challenging me, then bring it on fat faggot!" Axe and sword clashed. Balmung used this opportunity to gate out and find another hiding spot.

"HA! Hm? He of the Azure Sky is gone!"

"You idiot! If it weren't for you, I would have had him!"

"Well, if it wasn't for you challenging me, I would have had him within my grasp!" Rachel and Nuke had appeared on the scene by now.

"Marlo! You were suppose to tell us if Balmung was here or not! I need that moo-lah!" Rachel shouted.

"Well so-rry. If it wasn't for this weirdo, I would have told you."

"You depict me weird? Well take a look at your costume! You of the foul tongue look like that of garbage!"

"Oh shut up! And where is your party anyway?"

"They…..HUH? Where have they…NO! Thy friends have abandoned me again!"

"I really wouldn't say 'friends'" Marlo said under his breath.

Meanwhile in the Dungeon of the same area.

"Ah geez! The gott treasure's already been taken!" Blackrose said, kicking dust onto the open chest.

"Hm… virus core M." Kite said as he collected the virus core from the floating chasm in the same room. He yawned after storing it in his inventory.

"You can't be getting tired now. We still need to find that Spring of Myst!"

"Sorry, but we've been at it for hours now, and I'm just sleepy."

"Hm. I guess we can go to Carmina Gadalica and take a break. Plus, I need to restock on items." The heavyblade said as she pulled out her sprite ocarina and warped both of them out of the dungeon.

"No one in their right mind will ever think of looking down here." Balmung said a loud. He had managed to fly below Fort Ouph and grab onto a bar sticking out from the bottom. '_Hopefully my arms won't get tired… of course the won't. This is a game!_' He just hung there in his own space. His thoughts were interrupted by the shouting of a familiar character.

"So, there you are! Now get your ass up here and fight!" Marlo shouted from one of the bridges of the fort.

"Huh? Marlo? How did you find me down here?"

"Whenever a player speaks, a dialogue box appears next to them in this game. I saw one below this rock and now I find you!" Balmung grabbed his hair with both hands as if to pull it out at his folly for yelling out his thoughts. He would slap himself in the face if it weren't for the fact that he had let go of the bar and was falling to his doom and with now wind to help him fly.

"HEY! Get back here! RRAAAHH!" Marlo jumped off the bridge in pursuit of the Descendant of Fianna.

"Gee, I hope he doesn't try that in real life." Said an NPC at the item shop.

"I swear, these games have a horrible effect on a young one's mind." Said a neighboring NPC.

It was quiet on the LAMBDA server. Kite sat by the edge of the walkway, skipping stones across the water.

"Ugh… there's nothing helpful on the boards and the NPCs and any other characters are not being very helpful. This is just pissing me off!" Blackrose sat down next to her partner and threw a stone in the water. Kite nodded and continued to stare into the background of the area.

"I've been thinking…" Kite finally said after much silence.

"Hm?"

"The Twilight Bracelet was given to my by Aura. Perhaps she's linked to this event as well."

"Possibly. But even so, where would we find her?"

"I don't know. Hm… then again, DELTA: Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground has a mysterious air to it. It may give us a lead."

"Good idea. It's getting late. I'm logging out. I'm beginning to get tired. We'll go the cathedral tomorrow."

"Yeah." Kite got up and dusted off the bottom of his orange pants. "Goodnight Blackrose."

"Sweet dreams Kite." Blackrose logged out.

''S_weet dreams'?… that's a first…._' Kite scratched his head as the golden rings surrounded him in which his character vanished from the root town.

'_I have been falsely accused of killing my ally, hunted by my fellow players, and ended up killing myself in a way I didn't think was even possible! Well, tonight, is when it will change. I will search everywhere and check every message on the boards for ANY information leading to the true player killer behind this! I won't rest until I have proven my innocence and turned in the culprit to be deleted._' "I AM BALMUNG OF THE AZURE SKY! AND I WILL AVENGE ORCA'S DEATH!"

"Keep it down, will ya! I'm trying to sleep here!" yelled Balmung's neighbor in the real world.

"Why can't everything I say just be typed out and no be spoken a loud?"

The Next Day

Kite logged onto the DELTA server. Blackrose was waiting at the Chaos Gate.

"Hey! You're late!"

"Sorry. I overslept."

"Well that's no excuse to keep a woman waiting. Now come on. Let's go." Kite typed in the key words and both characters appeared at the cathedral.

'_Hm… the first field we ever warped to together…_' Kite thought.

"Hey! C'mon sleepy! Move!" Blackrose was already to the doorway by the time Kite came back to his senses.

NEXT CHAPTER: UNPLANNED EVENT

Preview: The Race to find the "Special Spring of Myst". It's all fun and games, but Aura sees something beyond just a simple event. And another player killing has occurred? Is Balmung up to something again? Or is this part of what Aura has sensed?

Please Review.


	4. Unplanned Event

.hack/PRESENT

Wow, up to 5 reviews at this point. That's the most I've ever gotten for a fanfic. ((sweatdrop))

Disclaimer: Like all other previous disclaimers, I do not own .hack

CHAPTER 4: UNPLANNED EVENT

One twinblade and heavyblade were the only two present at the cathedral. The two walked down the center to the chained statue of Aura.

"Hm… there's a strange air to this…" Kite said. Blackrose took a sniff of the air around her.

"Ugh… I think Kazu forgot to do laundry…" She said.

"No, not the air in real life, the air of this place. The aura of it…" he looked up to the statue "uh… no pun intended." Kite looked down at his wrist to see the bracelet shining again. '_There has to be some meaning to this…_' he thought as he saw the five arrows pointing toward the chained statue.

* * *

"Mia! Wait up!" Elk said as he ran across the bridge above the river of Mac Anu with Tsukasa following behind him.

"Hm… finding this spring seems harder than finding any aromatic grass." Mia said. She looked up into the dusk sky and pondered about what was in the hidden spring. Her thoughts were interrupted when she caught the scent of blood. "Huh? …WHAT THE!" She looked down into the river that was suffused in red. There was a dead corpse floating away currents.

"That's… that's Silver Knight." Tsukasa said, recognizing the figure. "He seems badly wounded…"

"Who would do something like this?" Elk asked, too squeamish to look at the bloody corpse.

"Hm… now that I think about it, Balmung is wanted for player killing." Mia said, recalling words she heard from another player.

"Balmung? Him? A PKer?" Elk asked.

"From what I hear, he killed Orca, his own partner. If he's so audacious to do that, than I doubt he'll try it on anyone."

"WHAT!" came a voice from under the bridge. "Now I'm to blame if someone is Player Killed?" Balmung's hiding place under the bridge was no longer any use as every player in the root town heard his shout. '_NO! Why can't I just keep quiet!_'

"Hey! It's Balmung! Get him!" yelled a player walking by. Balmung, not reacting well to the sudden circumstances, lost his grip to the bottom of the bridge and fell onto passing boat.

"Excuse me, I need to ask you to get off." An NPC rowing the boat said to the winged knight. "If you will just…AH!" Balmung had thrown the NPC into the water and grabbed the paddle.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I need to escape from the area in any means possible!" he said as he paddled away with bounty hunters hot on his trail.

* * *

"Hm… what could it mean…?" Kite thought out loud. The five arrows still pointed at the statue of Aura. His thoughts were interrupted by the shattering noise of stone in front of him. Blackrose had hopped the railing and smashed the statue with her broad sword.

"Well, it doesn't seem like there's anything inside the statue." She said.

"Wha… Blackrose, you didn't need to destroy it. This isn't something you can just smash up." He said, looking down at the rubble and remains.

"Well, sorry. I didn't know what else to do!" Blackrose said, slightly scratching the back of her head. Kite pondered a few more moments before the actual AI appeared.

"Aura!"

"You must beware the oncoming threat. You must avoid the 'Present'." She said in her almost monotonic voice.

"Beware… the 'Present'?" Kite asked perplexed.

* * *

"HEY!" Yelled a heavyblade from the walkway in Mac Anu. "I saw what you did Subaru! Are you the actual player killer behind yesterday's killing as well?" Mimiru yelled. Subaru finished wiping Silver Knight's blood from her axe.

"No. I wasn't there. I just got rid of Silver Knight right here for his constant following me." Subaru explained.

"Hey, I'm back." Crim said as he hopped back onto the boat from the item shop. "Uh, where did Silver Knight go?"

"He… had to log off to attend to other business." Subaru said.

* * *

"Beware the 'Present'. It is a threat to the 'World'. If you come across the 'Present', you must run."

"But what in the 'World' is this 'Present'?" Blackrose asked.

"A force that lies within the 'World'. It is luring many to it at this moment. I fear for the safety of the players."

"… the event? The 'Special Spring of Myst'? Is that it?" Asked Kite.

"You are correct."

"But what's in it exactly?"

"There is………" The figure of Aura began to static. Soon, she began fading away and disappeared in a matter of seconds.

"What what what? Where is she?" Blackrose said.

"Something's not right here…" Kite said. With nothing more to do, the duo left the cathedral and went shopping for supplies.

"Sigh… we can't find the spring, now we're told not to find it, and I can't even contact Mistral." Blackrose said.

"…." The twinblade just stood still.

"Hello! Are you spacing out again?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking."

"Hm. Whatever. I'm logging off for today." Three gold rings surrounded the heavyblade's body as she exited the game.

* * *

An hour passed. Kite was off on his own, battling monsters and collecting any treasures. He hoped clearing a dungeon would clear his mind of some of the issues for the moment until he could ponder what to do next.

"AAH!" A cry went through the air.

"Huh?" Kite looked around for the source of the noise and found a Killer Snake chasing after a twinblade character.

"AAH!"

"RAH!" Kite being the one to help, jumped at the monster and took it down with a Staccato attack. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah. Thanks for asking. I'm not very strong, so I can't do much about fighting."

"Don't you have any party members that can help you?"

"No. They're all busy with that whole 'Find the Special Spring of Myst' and none of them are available."

"Hm. Well, I was participating in it as well, but with current circumstances, you can say I'm out of it."

"Hey, can you come with me to the dungeon?"

"Me?"

"I can tell you're strong. So I thought if we went in there, I can level up a bit without worrying about dying."

"Hm… well, okay I guess."

"Alright. Oh, my name's A-20."

"Hm. I'm Kite. It's nice to meet you."

"Hm? You're Kite? I heard about you from one of my friends. Hm… although she never mentioned the funny hat." A-20 said pointing above Kite's head.

The two twinblade's battled their way through the dungeon. A-20 managed to go up 4 levels by the time they reached the gott statue room. Kite stepped up to the chest and removed its contents.

"Hm? It's a golden grunty." He said as he set the item in his arms.

"Oooooo…. Golden grunty…" A-20 said, almost as if it a drooling state.

"Here." Kite said, holding out the golden item "You seem like you really want it. Plus, I really don't have use for HP increase anymore…"

"Really? Wow, thank you. You're really nice." A-20 said. Kite gave a small grin at the comment. "Oh, I need to go. Invite me as a party member next time." A-20 gave Kite her member address just before logging out.

* * *

It was an early morning in Mac Anu the next day. Blackrose logged in to see her partner walking across the bridge.

"Hey! Kite!" She yelled running up to him.

"Oh, Blackrose."

"Okay, I don't know what Aura was trying to say the other day, but I think we should continue looking for the Spring of Myst. I'm sure we can take whatever's hiding in there."

"Hm. Yeah, okay I guess. We just need to find Mistral."

"Sigh… I tried, but she still hasn't responded to any e-mails. If we don't find a third party member to replace her, we won't be able to access the spring, and all my contacts are with another party."

"Hm… oh, I know someone we can call." Kite sent out a flash mail and waited by the chaos gate.

NEXT CHAPTER: DISCOVERY

Preview: The Special Spring's whereabouts are still a mystery. Kite and the gang continue their search as a dark force still lingers within. And Mistral's finally back and you won't believe what she accomplished!


	5. Discovery

.hack/PRESENT

Disclaimer: I do not own .hack

Wow, it's about 3:10 AM right now. This is the first time I wrote 2 fanfic chapters in the same day. Anyway… continuing on…

CHAPTER 5: DISCOVERY

A-20 appeared at the Chaos Gate.

"Hi Kite. Hm? Oh, I didn't know Mimiru was joining us."

"Wha? Mimiru? My name is Blackrose. Don't mistaken me for that copier!"

"Uh, so where should we go?" Kite stepped in, trying to prevent Blackrose from releasing another fit on the subject.

"Ooo! I know! Come with me!" A-20 said as she typed in a few words. The trio found themselves in a dark dismal field with monsters at level 99 surrounding them and magic portals every few feet away from each other. "Oops… uh, I accidentally mixed one of the words… heh heh…" A-20 said, poking her two index fingers together.

"What! We can't take on all of these!" Blackrose yelled, getting her most powerful sword from her inventory ready for defense. Kite equipped the level 99 rare _Sin of Hades_ blades and got in his twinblade fighter's stance.

"We can't gate out with monsters around. We'll just have to fight our way through this."

"Alright then." Blackrose got into her heavyblade fighter's stance. "I got your back on this."

"Okay. Are you ready A-20?"

"Um… could you revive me first?"

"HUH?" Kite and Blackrose said in unison. They looked to see that A-20 had already lost her HP and become a ghost.

"What! You're dead already!" Blackrose shouted.

"Sorry. I kinda ran ahead…" A-20 said. Kite used a resurrect on her and she ran between the other two players and equipped her level 1 _Amateur Blades_. "Okay, I'm ready to get 'em!"

"You sure it was a good idea to bring this kid?" Blackrose whispered to Kite.

"Well, we had no one left to call." The blue-haired twinblade had already begun to attack the many monsters surrounding the group. A-20 and Blackrose ran toward the monsters in the opposite direction of Kite. Many dragon type monsters and golem monsters had appeared from magic portals and the players had to endure the annoyance of having to be immobilized by every magic attack from the enemy mages.

"Ugh… there's too many to fight! RAH!" Blackrose took another swing at a golem.

"Ha-YAH! Let's head…RAH!… to the dungeon!… UGH!… We'll be safe from the there. HA!" Kite said while defending against multiple strikes from floating swords monsters.

* * *

The trio managed to make it to the dungeon's entrance room. The stopped to use Phal Repth spells to recover all their HP. 

"Um… sorry, but could you…" began the ghost of A-20.

"Sigh…" Blackrose used another resurrect on A-20 which brought her out of the blue transparent form.

"Hm?" Kite turned around to face the entryway to the next room. "There's something in the next room and it's heading this way!" he got into his twinblade stance as he kept ready to attack.

"Ready!" '_I hope I don't die again_' A-20 thought.

"I'll take 'em" Said Blackrose. As they all got ready, a large shadowed figure appeared.

"Friends! I…." The figure began to speak when Kite performed Evil Twin attack, Blackrose used Vak Divider, and A-20 hit the figure with Tiger Claws technique and knocked it over its feet. "OW! AH! Wait! Cease your attacks! I am no a monster! OW! AH!"

"HUH?" Blackrose said, getting a better view at what they attacked.

"Piros? What are you doing here?" Kite asked, looking down at the axe-wielder they just beat up.

"Ah, he of fair eyes. I was looking for my two other allies that I accompanied in search for the Special Spring of Myst. Marlo had told me he saw them enter this high level area, so here I am now."

A-20 poked at Blackrose's arm. "Is he a friend of yours?"

"Well, in my case, I wouldn't call him a _friend_." Blackrose whispered to the younger twinblade. She was going to continue talking until something grabbed her, drew her back, and before she knew it, two blades where drawn to her neck. "Huh? What the hell!"

"You're that heavyblade, Blackrose, aren't you?" A green-haired twinblade said.

"Unhand the one in distress, evil blade weilder!" Piros yelled.

"Wha? Sora? What are you doing?" Kite said as he turned around to face the ninja based character.

"You know this guy?" Blackrose asked.

"Yeah. Helba gave me his member address along with Tsukasa's and Subaru's shortly after the whole incident with the Wave."

"Ah, Kite! Good to see you again." Sora said.

"I heard about you from Mimiru and Tsukasa. You're some sort of player killer." Blackrose said with an angry look.

"Bingo. Now, if you wouldn't mind, please give me your member address. I like to meet all my friends personally rather than having to see them when my other allies are the only one who can contact them."

"Ha, I'd rather get killed now then give my member address to you!"

"Blackrose?" Kite said suddenly.

"Don't worry, it's not like I haven't saved in a while. Ugh!" Sora had held his blades closer to the heavy blade's neck.

"Now, now, you don't want to end up like your friend Orca, would you?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Oh c'mon! Isn't it obvious? Do you really think Balmung would kill Orca? No, of course not. He's innocent. _I KILLED ORCA!_" dramatic background music suddenly kicked in.

"YOU killed Orca?" Kite pointed at Sora.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Blackrose yelled.

"HA! Thou has located the real culprit!" Prios said.

"Oooo, what's in this treasure chest?" A-20 walked past Sora to open a treasure chest and get a healing potion to add to her inventory. Everyone in the room fell over anime-style.

"A-20! Were you even paying attention to what was happening?" Blackrose, who got free of Sora's grip, yelled at her.

"Huh? Oh! Uh… OH MY GOODNESS! HE IS THE ONE WHO KILLED…" A-20 began.

"It's too late for that now kiddo." Blackrose interrupted as she flung her broad sword over her shoulder.

"You! Green-haired scoundrel! Feel the wrath of Piros! For I will turn you in! The real Culprit!" Piros yelled at Sora.

"Oh Puh-leez. You couldn't catch me even if I were hopping on one foot."

"I will not be take any of your taunts or insults! Now! Prepare yourself!"

"That's only if you can catch me! BOING!" Sora leapt into the air and ran further into the dungeon.

"Stop! Get back here and fight me, Villian!" Piros said as he ran off in the same direction.

"Hm… I think with all this said, the monsters may be clear of the outer dungeon. We could gate out." Kite told both party members.

"Yeah, let's go. I'm getting tired of this place." Blackrose replied.

"This was a fun experience." A-20 said as she followed the two up the stairs onto the field and gated back to the root town.

* * *

Mistral was the first everyone saw as the appeared back at Mac Anu. 

"Mistral! Where were you! I tried contacting you at least a million times!" Blackrose said to the wavemaster.

"Sorry, but I got caught up in some other business."

'_At least she's out of her hyper-mode_' "Well what kept you so busy that you haven't replied?"

"Lookie at what I caught!" Mistral tugged a rope to reveal Balmung, tied up with his wings clipped and a strap of duct tape was placed over his mouth.

"Balmung? Mistral, is this what you were doing the whole time?" Kite asked.

"Yep! He's wanted for Player Killing, so when I found out about the bounty, I devised a plan to catch him, and now I can turn him in and collect all that GP!"

"Um, sorry to say this, but Balmung isn't the one who…" Kite began to say.

"Uh…what he's saying is, Balmung isn't one who should be let free for this. C'mon, let's collect that reward!" Blackrose interrupted.

"YAHOO! We'll be rich!" Mistral said as she dragged along the tied up knight.

"But Blackrose, it was Sora who killed Orca!" Kite whispered into her ear.

"Yeah, but the bounty office doesn't know that, nowdo they?" Blackrose whispered back.

"Well, I can't argue with that…" Kite said, scratching the back of his head.

"Hey! C'mon you two! Or do I have to haul all that money out by myself?" Mistral yelled out to them from the bridge.

"We're coming!" Blackrose ran off to catch up.

"It's been fun playing with you two. I have to go, but I hope we meet again." A-20 stepped up to the Chaos Gate.

"Well, if something like this happens, I'll call you up again." Kite said, being his friendly self although he knew it would make things harder with her in the team.

"Okay! Bye!" A-20 waved as three golden rings surrounded her and she logged out. The second she logged out, another player logged in. One Kite could recognize anytime.

"Orca!"

"Hey, I finally logged back in after that incident a few days ago."

"Glad to see you back."

"So, anything good happen while I was away. Oh, and how's that search for the Spring coming along?"

"Well, can't say we had any luck."

"Ah, too bad. Well, I'll just round up my team again and….huh?" Orca saw a heading on a banner that was posted recently. It read "_The player killer, Balmung of the Azure Sky has been caught thanks to the team of Mistral, Blackrose, and Kite. Balmung is now being charged with a fine of 1,000,000,000 GP and his penalty may even be as much as one month account banned."_

"HEY! What the! Balmung didn't kill my character! It was that crazy ninja-like fellow!" Orca said as he ran off to clear some things. Kite stood by the chaos gate. He couldn't help but laugh at all the incidents that happened today.

NEXT CHAPTER: SEARCH CONTINUES

Preview: With the Player Killing issue cleared, Kite and the gang can finally concentrate on solving the mystery behind the Special Spring of Myst. Of course, they have no other leads other than the vague info that was given by Aura. Ah, but it seems Sora has a few things to say about all this…


	6. Search Continues

.hack/PRESENT

Disclaimer: By now you should know that I do not own .hack. Now, here's the next chapter...

CHAPTER 6: SEARCH CONTINUES

Kite walked to the Chaos gate. His inventory full with all necessities and weapons he needed. He was ready to continue the search for the Spring of Myst now that the issue with the player killings has been cleared. Blackrose logged in shortly afterward.

"Hey, you're earlier than me for once." She said to her twinblade partner.

"Heh, that I am. We just need to wait for Mistral and we can be off."

"HELLO!" the wavemaster said, appearing right behind them.

"AAH!" both Kite and Blackrose jumped and turned to see Mistral standing there.

"Hey! I thought you said you wouldn't sneak up behind us like that anymore!" Blackrose shouted.

"Oops. I forgot. So, where are we going?"

"Well, we're going to Carmina Gadalica. We've checked mostly all of the of the first two servers, so I thought we should head there." Kite said.

"Great. Let's go." The trio was surrounded by golden rings and appeared in the night streets of the cultural city. Kite was about to type in key words until he heard something land in the back of the group.

"5PR0iN9! H3110!"

"Oh… it's you." Blackrose said with a slightly irritated tone.

"it 533M5 y0u 6Uy5 4R3 90in9 50M3P14c3. Mind if I c0m3 410n9?

"Yes, we mind. And why are you now typing out messages like some newb?"

"Wh47'5 wr0n9? C4n'7 r34d my 7ypin9? 700 h4rd f0r y0u?" Sora typed.

"Sorry Sora, but we're on a search, and according to the set rules of the event, we can only have a party of three."

"444hhh…. 7hat'5 t00 b4d. I h4d s0m3 inf0 480ut 7h47 funny spin6 I saw 7h3 07h3r d4y.

"had…some…info…about…that…funny…." Blackrose said, trying to read Sora's typing "spring…I…saw…the other day? WAIT! What funny spring!"

"0000… y0u'r3 sh0win6 in73r357. Hmmm….. h0w 480u7 w3 m4k3 4 d341?"

"What kind of deal?" Kite asked.

"137 m3 j0in y0ur p4r7y. I c4n 7311 y0u w3r3 I f0und i7."

"Oh, um, well…."

"Uh oh…" Mistral said "the baby's crying. Sorry, I need to log off." Mistral's character was surrounded by golden rings and disappeared.

"W311, i7 100k5 1ik3 I'11 83 c0min9 wi7h y0u."

"Whatever. Kite, let's get this over with quickly."

"Alright. Sora, where did you see this "'funny' spring?" Kite asked but before he knew it, Sora had already typed in the words and they were warped to a snowy field.

"An ice field? Are you sure? I don't think Springs of Myst appear in these types of fields."

"4h… 8u7 h4v3 y0u 3v3r 7ri3d di99in9?"

"Well, no, but…"

"4nd 7h47'5 my p0in7!"

"Oh, it's buried. I get it."

"Ri9h7! N0w l37'5 90!" Sora ran ahead only to stumble across a magic portal. "RRRR… 57upid m0n573r5 pi55 m3 0ff!" Sora began attacking them with his ninja speed. Kite withdrew his own two short swords. Both twinblades finished off the monster quickly. Sora, being as active as ever ran off ahead. Kite stopped when he noticed Blackrose behind.

"Hey, Blackrose? Are you okay?" Kite looked to his shivering partner.

"I-I-I-it's c-c-cold-d-d…. I can't s-s-stand fields like t-t-this…" Kite took off his backpack and dug through it and pulled out a leather coat item.

"Here, take this." Kite placed the coat over Blackrose's shoulders and she wrapper her body to try keeping in the warmth.

"Thanks Kite." Blackrose said and smiled at Kite.

"Sure thing Blackrose." Kite said, smiling back as well.

"H3Y! Hurry up 41r34dy y0u 10v38ird5! 7h3 5prin9 5ti11 4w4it5!"

"Hurry…up…" Kite read, trying to comprehend Sora's typing. "already… you………" Kite stopped there upon deciphering the next word.

"What the..! SORA!" Kite and Blackrose yelled in unison.

* * *

"Okay, now let's get going again." Orca said, sheathing the sword he just polished. 

"Right." Balmung replied. Both descendants of Fianna were at Lia Fail. "Sanjuro is waiting for us in the field already."

"Alright." Orca typed in the key words. Both blademasters were warped to a desert field.

"Hm? Strange. Sanjuro is suppose to be here…" Balmung said. He looked into the distance to see Sanjuro fighting off a monster, but it wasn't just an ordinary fiend. The creature glowed bright green as it was covered in green hexagons. "?….a… a data bug?"

"How'd that get here? I thought we were through with them!" Orca said.

"It seems there are still some remnants…" Balmung said, rushing over to aid Sanjuro with Orca following.

* * *

"8in90!" Sora yelled as he stopped in his tracks. "W3 di9 h3r3." 

"Okay." Kite began digging with his hands. He dug at least 6 inches before he hit something hard. "Hm?" the twinblade began to dig around him and uncovered a frozen spring. He could even see the orange figure of the Grandpa that would inhabit these springs.

"This has to be it! Let's break it open!" Blackrose said.

"Y0u r34d my mind." Sora said as he starting releasing and retracting his blades at will against the frozen spring. Soon, the ice broke. "C4-chin9!" Soon after Sora broke that one part of the ice, the ground they were standing on started to crack.

"Oh great… just our luck…." Blackrose said. The trio soon fell through a seemingly endless hole.

* * *

"Kite? Kite? Hey, wake up!" Kite opened his eyes to see Blackrose. 

"Huh? Uh… where…?"

"You had landed on your head. You were out for a little while."

"Hmmmm… 4 dun930n und3r 7h47 sprin9. N0w 7h47's in73r357in9."

"…..?…. ah…" Kite remembered what had happened. The trio had fell through that dark pit. "Hm…." Kite took out a fairy's orb to examine the area. " this place is pretty large. Hm?" the bracelet had lit once again, and the five arrows pointed toward the door. "Hm…. Let's go." Kite and the other two ran through the door. It was an easy run since there were no monsters on the first floor. When the group entered the second basement floor, Kite used another fairy's orb only to discover that there was only one more room ahead. In it, they found a Spring of Myst glowing green.

"A-HA! This must be it!" Blackrose exclaimed. Kite stepped up to it and a figure like Monsieur and Grandpa appeared but rather than blue or orange, it was green.

"Congratulations! You are the winners of the 'Special Spring of Myst' contest. For your ha…" the giant drop was saying until Sora interrupted.

"Y34h, y34h, wh473v3r! N0w wh47'5 0ur priz3!"

"Ah yes, here you go. This is CC Corporation's present to you." A small gift box popped out of the water below the floating drop. Kite picked it up and opened it.

"What is it? What is it?" Blackrose asked eagerly.

"It's…. it's…. a FORTUNE WIRE." The room fell silent.

"WWWWHHHAAAATTT?" Blackrose's cry echoed throughout the entire area. "All we get is a stupid fortune wire?"

"Ch34P!" Sora yelled.

"Sorry, but the set of data bugs running freely has caused us to give that speed charm as a temporary prize. Please come back when the problem is fixed." The green drop disappeared.

"Huh? Data bugs?" Kite said. He heard the familiar ring of email go off. "I'm going to log off for a few seconds." Kite's character disappeared. Kite read the new mail.

_Dear 'The World' User,_

_This is a warning sent to all players. It seems there are traces of monsters that have infinite HP or Data Bugs lurking about in the fields. We advice all players to play in low level fields and servers while the employees at CC Corp. deal with the issue. We sincerely apologize. _

_-CC Corporation_

Kite logged back in. Blackrose was waiting at the chaos gate.

"I got a letter from CC corp." she said.

"Yeah. There are still data bugs in 'The World'.

"Ugh! I can't believe this! We go through all that and because of those damn bugs, we're left with just a Fortune wire as our prize! I hate this!"

"I hate it too, but if we don't do something about the data bugs, then we won't be able to obtain what was the intended gift."

"You're right. Well, it's back to old times, huh?"

"Yeah, it is."

NEXT CHAPTER: FIGHT FOR KITE

Preview: Data bugs. Now that they've returned, Kite must venture off and destroy them just as before. But it won't be easy once he gets isolated from the others. He'll have to fight for his life with all the infected monsters around him. But that's not the only fight. Natsume, Terajima, and Blackrose have their own conflict.


	7. Fight For Kite

.hack/PRESENT

Phew. Finally able to update after all that schoolwork I've been having.

Disclaimer: As I've said for the past 6 chapters, I don't own .hack.

And now….

CHAPTER 7: FIGHT FOR KITE

It was just an ordinary day in Mac Anu. Kite stood over the bridge looking down into the river. Not having anything to do, he logged out. He checked his e-mail and ran down the list of messages from his friends. He stumbled across the mail from Blackrose that left him in question for a quite a time. The message that contained the sentence "I think I may be in love with you" of course, at the bottom it stated she was just kidding. Kite re-read through Sora's peculiar w4y 0f 7ypin9 m3554935 and considered seeing some of the movies Sanjuro had suggested in the past through e-mail. He went through some of Mistral's letters containing some food ideas she had which Kite didn't find THAT appetizing once he tried them.

He scrolled through the list to find a particular message from Natsume explaining how she could now do the flex arm hang as well as say "Kite, I think I'm in love with you". The first time he read that, he jumped out of his seat and knocked over the neuro-goggle. He could still feel a part of the head mounted display set that was chipped from when that happened. The same day he read that e-mail, he got two others, one from Blackrose and one from Terajima Ryoko, both inviting him to the same dungeon to find a very rare weapon for a heavyblade or heavyaxe. Both wanted to go their separate ways in that dungeon, but it was clear that they wanted Kite to go with one or the other. He was put in the middle for some time before choosing a path. The weapon turned out to be a rare twinblade weapon. Heck, that trip may have not been so bad after all.

* * *

A lot of time passed and Kite logged back on. Three female players greeted him the moment his avatar appeared. 

"Oh, Kite, I was just looking for you." Blackrose, Terajima, and Natsume said in unison. "Huh?"

"Um… all three of you need to see me?"

"I don't know about those other two, but it seems there's this dungeon that's suppose to have a really rare item for heavyblades, so I was going to ask you to come."

"Hm? How coincidental. I was going to ask the same thing. There's this very strong axe weapon in a dungeon that I read in the board." Terajima said.

"Hm? You two as well? I was gong to ask him to accompany me to a dungeon that has a good twinblade item."

'_NO! Not this! I know where this is going….._' Kite thought. "So, um, where exactly are these weapons located?"

"OMEGA Confused Neutral Knight" all three girls said in unison.

'_Yep… I knew it…._' Kite thought.

"Huh? That can't be. There's only suppose to be a heavyblade item there."

"I read only heavyaxe items are located in that dungeon."

"Actually, it's a twinblade's treasure that's in there."

Kite was going to log off to prevent being involved but all three girls had grabbed him, ran up to the chaos gate, and warped to OMEGA Confused Neutral Knight.

* * *

"Okay, we'll just have to see what's in that dungeon." Blackrose said. 

"Um… we're all at level 99. Are you sure we really need any more rare weapons? I mean…" Kite began.

"Of course. Besides, I need a stronger weapon to make up for the attack power lost from some of my armor items." Blackrose interrupted.

"Same here. And I do believe we will make it faster by going to the left this time." Terajima said at Blackrose, recalling a past event.

"Well I say I'm right by going right."

"I still believe we should have gone left!"

"Well, I heard there's a four-way intersection in the dungeon, so I say we go straight though the middle." Natsume said.

"No, it has to be left. I'm sure of it."

"It's Right!"

"Left!"

"I say it's middle."

Kite hit his head against a nearby stone. He couldn't stand this type of situation. The three's argument continued all the way into the dungeon to where the four-way intersection Natsume mentioned appeared.

"Okay, I got it. We'll just go our separate ways then." Blackrose said.

"Alright. Fine by me." Terajima said.

"I agree." Natsume said. "but wait, what about Kite? Who's he going to go with?"

"Hm… yeah… who do you think is correct Kite?" Terajima asked.

"Uh… well… can't I just wait for you three to return here later?" Kite asked. He was given an immediate answer.

"NO."

"Ugh… well….." Kite looked toward the three options. He didn't know what to do. He could always use the sprite ocarina to warp out, but that would be rude to exit without doing anything.

"Well?" all three asked.

"Um… I'm thinking…"

"You don't need to think. It's obviously to the right. So just come with me and we can get…" Blackrose started.

"Excuse me, but I still believe it's left. So Kite should just go in this direction and we…" Terajima interrupted but was she was cut off as well.

"If I may, but I think Kite should come with me down the middle road." Natsume said.

"It is left!"

"No! It's right!"

"Middle!"

"Left!"

"Right!"

"Middle!"

"Left!"

"Right!"

"Middle!"

"Left!"

"It is right! And I'll fight to prove my point!"

"Are you suggesting that I fight you!" Terajima shot back a glare.

"If fighting is the only way to solve this, than that's what I'll do!" Natsume exclaimed. Soon, heavyblade, heavyaxe, and twinblade were attacking each other ruthlessly. The clashing of their weapons were echoing through out the entire dungeon. War cries were replaced with the player's respective direction. Soon, the yelling of directions was replaced with "Kite's going with me." Or "Kite will choose me!". Hearing this, Kite turned to leave but bumped into a familiar painted muscular body.

"Oh, Orca, what are you doing here?" Kite asked.

"Hey there. I read on the board that there was suppose to be a really strong blademaster item in this dungeon."

"AAAH!" Kite fell over. How many weapons was this dungeon suppose to have?

"Hm?" Orca noticed the three girls fighting "Hey, what's up with them?"

"Don't ask…" Kite said, getting up. Just as the three were going to give each other a deathblow strike, a familiar and bubbly voice emerged from down the right doorway.

"Hey? What's going on in here?" The fighting stopped as everyone say Mistral enter the room with a staff glowing bright blue.

"Hi Mistral. Hm? Where'd you get that staff?"

"Isn't it great? I went to the bottom of this dungeon to the gott statue and I found this ultra, super-duper rare wavemaster staff!" Blackrose, Natsume, and Terajima fell silent. All this time and it was a wavemaster's item.

"…..Hm? how come it's so quiet all of the sudden?" Orca asked. Behind him, Balmung had finished defeating a monster, but left with a confusion effect on him as the beast's final resort. The winged knight ran up to Orca, not being able to control his body.

"Orca! Run!"

"Huh? AAAH!" Balmung thrusted his sword through Orca's body under the confusion effect.

"Huh?"

"Wha?"

"Yikes!"

"Ah..!"

"What?"

Everyone was in shock. Balmung had killed Orca and the confusion had worn off the very second he pulled his sword from Orca's now limp body.

"HA! I knew it! He really is a player killer!" Mistral yelled.

"What? You can't possibly still be thinking that!" Balmung shouted.

"Don't play dumb, we saw you right now kill Orca!" Blackrose shot at him.

"Hey, now that he's back to player killing, we can turn him in for money!" Terajima said.

"Yeah! Let's do it!" Natsume said.

"What! Please! I was under the confusion effect! Surely you all know that one cannot control their character under that spell!"

"Sorry, never heard of it." All three girls said simultaneously, obviously lying.

"Kite! Please, tell me that you believe me!"

"Well, I…" Kite began, but was interrupted.

"C'mon Kite! Let's collect our money!" the four girls grabbed him and ran after the winged knight as he fled with a speed charm activated.

"When I collect the bounty, I'll share it with you Kite." Blackrose said while still running.

"Not unless I collect it first. I'll make sure I split it with Kite." Natsume said.

"Well I believe I will be the one to capture him. I'll be happy to give more than just half of it." Terajima said. Mistral caught up with them.

"Well I'm just going to capture him and collect the GP _period_. With all that money, think of all the neat items I'll get!"

"Mistral! Don't be so greedy!" Blackrose said. Just then, everyone heard the familiar sound of the three golden rings that always appeared when someone logged out.

"Huh? Where's Kite?"

"Did he log out?"

"Hm… must have had to reset his computer."

* * *

Kite had removed the headset and turned off his computer. He needed a REALLY long break. 

NEXT CHAPTER: VIRUS CORE

Preview: After a time of relaxation, Kite logs in again only to see the root towns deteriorating. Data bugs are appearing again and it seems the source of this new infection has the data for the real Present for the Spring of Myst event. With this news in mind, Kite sets out to claim what he and the others were really suppose to win.


	8. Virus core

.hack/PRESENT

Disclaimer: Yawn… I don't own .hack. I wonder how much longer I can go saying this over and over :xp:

CHAPTER 8: VIRUS CORE

Kite sat down at his desk and put on the head mounted display set. He hasn't logged onto "The World" for at least a week since the incident in the dungeon. The blue-haired twinblade appeared in Mac Anu just as the e-mail tone went off. He logged out and read the message.

_To Kite,_

_It seems there's a data bug at DELTA Deserted Forsaken Tri-pansy. I want you to go there and eliminate it. This specific bug seems to have tampered with "The World's" main data and is causing the graphic problems you may have seen in root towns. Not to mention it has done something to the programming connected with the prize for the Spring of Myst event. Now, gather anyone you can get and form a party and take out this data bug. I put in a program that will allow you to have more than two party members for this time. We're detecting the data mass on this one to be very massive._

_-Lios_

Data bugs? High data volume? Kite slipped the neuro goggles while hoping that it wasn't a phase of some sort. He sent flash mails to everyone on his contact list. After waiting a few minutes by the chaos gate on a response from Tsukasa, Subaru, Mistral, A-20, Gardenia, Marlo, and Sanjuro was all he received before they all logged on.

"Hey, what's going on Kite?" Sanjuro asked.

"I've called all of you here because it seems there is still a data bug loose in 'The World'."

"WHAT! I thought we already took care of those #$ monsters!" Marlo shouted.

"I thought so too, but I got a mail from Lios. He told me there was still one remaining."

"So why bring all of us? It's not like you're fighting one for the first time." Gardenia said.

"Lios mentioned the data volume in the area was at a very high level."

"HUH? But the only time anyone mentioned that was because there was a phase!"

"This could be very dangerous." Subaru informed.

"So… you want us to help?" Tsukasa asked.

"Well, yes." Kite said.

"Fine, I'll join in." Tsukasa replied.

"Um, but aren't you only allowed to have two others follow you?" A-20 asked.

"Lios said he programmed the team to have more than three total. He said that I will need all the help I could get for this specific case. So we…"

"WE NEED TO GO ALREADY! I'M LOOSING MY &#)# Patience!" Marlo yelled.

"Oh… right!" Kite faced the chaos gate "DELTA Deserted Forsaken Tri-pansy!" with that, all eight players were surrounded by golden rings.

* * *

Theyreappeared in what seemed like a ghost town you would see in western movies. 

"Hm…. It's empty…" Sanjuro said while unsheathing his katana.

"Fairy's orb!" Kite viewed the map as the fairy's orb scanned the area. "Huh? This field… it _is_ the dungeon."

"Huh?" Mistral asked.

"It shows no dungeon entry. So I'm guessing this is field is suppose to be the …" Kite was interrupted by the rumbling of the ground. "Huh?" Ahead of him was a large cloud of smoke left behind by the marching of something. Kite equipped his twin short swords ready to fight if it was a monster. As the creature got closer, Kite could more easily distinguish what was coming.

"What is it?" Subaru asked.

"They're… they're…presents…" Kite responded.

"Presents?" Sanjuro asked. In front of the group was a stampede of what seemed like gift-wrapped boxes just making their way over to the players.

"There are so many of them! Can we take them?" Mistral asked, raising her staff.

"We don't' have a choice now…" Kite said, getting into twinblade stance. As he was about to attack, a large object fell down in between him and the cubicle enemies. "Wha…?"

"He of fair eyes! I have arrived!"

"Oh… it's you Piros…"

"Indeed. I received your request for me to join you, and now let us annihilate thy cubic beasts! Huh? AAAH!" By the time Piros turned around, 5 boxes had piled on top the heavyaxeman, causing him to fall over. Pieces of shredded armor were sent flying left and right as Piros cried for help. Within seconds, all the was left of the him was his large axe.

"Holy $#! They ate the faggot!" Marlo yelled. The presents began to encircle the group, surrounding them. As seconds passed, the space between the circling stampede and the players got smaller and smaller.

"RRR… we're outnumbered." Sanjuro said, getting into heavyblade stance.

"Hmph…" Tsukasa held up his wand "Guardian Pha." With that, the dumb-bell shaped monster floated above his head as any monster would in a summon spell. Tendrils and tentacles from the guardian shot out in all directions, killing off all boxed enemies. "They're finished." Tsukasa lowered his wand as the Guardian disappeared. That statement was soon proven false when four more came rushing up to Kite.

"Kite! Behind you!" Gardenia yelled.

"Wha? AH!" Kite stepped back and turned around. As soon as the boxed beasts were within an inch from Kite, a swift clashing sound was heard as a tanned figure dropped in front of him with the box dead next to his foot. "Blackrose?"

"What do you think you're doing going off to fight something like a phase without me!" she shouted at Kite.

"Well, sorry, but you didn't respond to the mail, so…"

"Hold that thought." Blackrose turned and swung her broad sword at the three remaining beasts, killing them, then turned back to Kite. "you were saying?"

"Well, you didn't respond, and Lios did say it was urgent, so…"

"What? And you just left without waiting for me?"

"I'm sorry! But you…" Kite was interrupted again by sound of static. A bright flash was all that was seen in the neuro goggles. As the light settled, Kite, Blackrose, and Mistral were the only one's standing there. "Huh? Where did…?"

"Damn it!" Lios' voice said from nowhere "that stupid bug is overwriting my program. I'm afraid you have to do this the old fashioned way by having only 2 party members with you."

"Darn. This is going to be more difficult." Mistral said.

"Don't worry. We've taken care of data bugs in the past with only a group of three. We can still do it." Kite reassured.

"H3Y! 4r3n'7 y0u f0r9377in9 50m30n3?"

"Huh?…. Sora?" Kite looked up to the top of an abandoned salon where the ninja-like twinblade stood.

"8in90! I r3ci3v3d y0ur m4i1 4nd I w4n7 70 533 7hi5 711 p0w3rfu1 m0n573r y0u m3n7i0n3d."

"AH HA! Thou has spotted the culprit of the PKing again!" said another voice from a building across the one Sora was standing on.

"Piros? How did you…" Kite began.

"I merely reset my computer terminal. Now, I must take care of the twinblade for his crimes!"

"Y0u 494in? 0h 41ri9h7. 137'5 p14y. C0m3 4nd 937 m3 F47 80Y!"

"How dare you insult Piros! Now! Fell thy wrath! RAAAH!" Piros leapt from the edge of the building waving his axe above his head. Sora picked up a nearby brick and tossed it at the axe-wielder. "AAH! That's a cheap…" Piros landed face first into the ground

"W311. 7h47 w45 4n 345y vic70ry."

"Hey! Don't think you'll get away with it."

"Huh? 0h… i7'5 Mr. 01d 5ch001." Sora said, looking to the side to find Crim pointing his spear at the twinblade.

"I see you're still causing trouble. Well I'm going to settle all this right here."

"P4h! 8rin9 i7 0n!" twinblade and longarm leapt from their respective buildings, slashing at each other in mid-air. Both moving swiftly and dodging the other's attacks. As Crim jumped up to deliver an uppercut, Sora flew to the side, having the longarm miss, and right in front of his attack was Balmung. The blade of Crim's spear cut the Descendant of Fianna's wing, causing him to crash into the ground from flying.

"What? Balmung?" Crim landed next to the one-winged knight. "Uh, sorry about that."

"…. My wing…"

"Hm?"

"This wing…. It's been cut…"

"Um yes. Again, I'm sorry for that. You see… I was trying to…" Before Crim could finish, Balmung unsheathed his blade and pointed it at Crim. "What the…? Hey, wait a moment…"

"You! You shall pay for what you have done to my precious wing!"

"Hey, wait a moment, I…AH!" Crim barely blocked a strike from above as Balmung began attacking Crim with eyes filled with rage. "Stop! Can't we just talk about this?"

"H4H4H4! 100ks 1ik3 y0u'11 83 8u5y f0r 4 whi13." Sora said from atop the building he was originally standing on.

"Get down here! You have some part in this as well. If you hadn't moved out of the way, I wouldn't be in this predicament!"

"W311, 700 84d! 60774 90 n0w. 8uh 8ye!" Sora took off skipping from building to building.

"rrrr… someday…Hm?" '_Where did the other three go off to anyway?_' Crim thought.

* * *

Kite, Blackrose, and Mistral were running down the long pathways, trying to escape from the oncoming wave of present shaped enemies pursuing them. 

"What kind of enemies are these anyway? VAK DON!" Mistral turned around quickly to shoot a bolt of fire at one present and turned to run again.

"I don't know. I've seen chests that attack, but these presents are just one lame idea!" Blackrose turned to slash at a boxed enemy and turned to run again.

"I have a feeling they weren't meant to be put into this game." Kite said, puling out three speed charms and applying it to all party members including him.

"How much further until we get to that data bug? My finger's getting tired of pushing forward on the analog stick!" Blackrose complained.

"It should be past this ally." Kite said looking at the map as he turned to the left. The group found themselves in front of a large door with binary digits floating around it. "This door… I haven't seen anything like it in this game…" Kite looked at it in wonder. Blackrose started slashing it.

"It won't open. And those boxes are gaining…"

"Don't worry! I'll open it! ALOHOMORA!" Mistral yelled, pointing her staff at the door. Nothing happened.

"Wrong series Mistral!" Blackrose said.

"Oops. I forgot…"

Kite noticed that the door was a selectable item on the screen. He pressed the X button on his controller. The screen started to static and he was taken to the gate hacking menu.

'_!… I remember… those virus cores…. This door…._' Kite thought, remembering the virus cores he found while searching for the spring. He quickly filled in the cross with the required virus cores and the door opened upon completion. "C'mon! Lets hurry!" Kite said as he ran through to the other side.

NEXT CHAPTER: PHASE 1.5

Preview: Kite and co. come face to face with a peculiar monster with a strange resemblance to Skeith. But this is no ordinary phase. This Skeith look-a-like can control the elements around it and warp players into the area at will. Can Kite defeat this new phase, or will it leave the World crashing around him?


	9. Phase 1 and a half

.hack/PRESENT

Disclaimer: As you know all ready, I do not own .hack.

CHAPTER 9: PHASE 1.5

Kite, Blackrose, and Mistral stood in a seemingly endless desert field. They have just stepped through the door opened by the bracelet and were transported to this empty void with a twilight sky.

"Uh… does anyone have a clue where we are?" Blackrose finally said after a time of silence.

"I don't know." Kite responded.

"There's nothing here. I don't even see the town." Mistral's eyes scanned the area. Nothing was in sight except the red orange sand.

"_Who dare enter?_" a voice spoke to the group.

"Huh? Is someone there?" Kite looked around but could only see the emptiness.

"_You. You bear… that item… you entered… why?_"

"Item? This bracelet?"

"_You… you… are aligned…aligned… with her…_"

"Her? You mean Aura?"

"_Must…. Kill….you must… die…_" A bold of lightning crashed from the sky to the ground and in an array of bright energy, the data bug revealed itself. Claws for hands, its torso was white. It stood on legs whose bottoms were pointed. It possessed an eye in the center of its face that glowed blood red (A/N- picture in your head something similar to the monster that appeared in the final episodes of .hack/DUSK).

"Wha...what are you?" Kite equipped his strongest weapon.

"_I am…_" the beast stopped as if to ponder on what to say "_I am…… PRESENT._"

"Present?" Kite took a closer look at the beast before him. "Present, are you in any way connected to Skeith?" Kite took note to its resemblance to the first phase. The monster only grew more intense.

"_You dare compare me to Skeith!_" Kite took a step back sensing the beast's anger.

* * *

"Ugh… okay… it's agreed. I find a way to get you a new wing or repair the torn one." Crim said to Balmung.

"Hm. I'm glad we've come to this agreement." The winged (or single winged) knight said as he logged out.

"Hmmm…. I w0nd3r h0w 7hi5 w0u1d 7urn 0u7."

"What?" Crim looked around to see Sora sitting on the edge of a building. "You again. I'll make sure I defeat you this time around."

"D0n'7 m4k3 m3 14u6h. Y0u c0u1dn'7 hi7 m3 83f0r3, wh47 m4k35 y0u 50 5ur3 y0u c4n 5ucc33d n0w?"

"We're both at the same level. What makes you think you're any better?"

"83c4u53 I'm much c0013r 7h4n y0u 4r3." Sora began to lie down on his side.

"What are you talking about! Get down here and we'll settle this with a single duel!"

"0k4y, 8u7 I h4v3 4 1i7713 9if7 f0r y0u fir57. H3R3!" Sora tossed a brick at Crim's head.

"OW! AH! Hey! Do you know how much that hurts? Ah..geez…RRR.."

"Hmm… I 9u355 y0ur h4r5d3r 70 kn0ck 0u7 7h4n 7h47 57upid 4x3m4n. N0 ma773r. I'11 ju57 ki11 y0u."

"I believe you'll be the one to fall today." Crim leapt into the air. He drew his spear back ready to swing. As he was about to attack, the area around the two started to shake violently. Both players fell to the ground. "Hey! What's going on over here?"

"Wh04. I didn'7 kn0w 7h3y pu7 34rthqu4k35 in thi5 94m3." Before anyone could say anything else, Kite, Blackrose, and Mistral came flying out of nowhere. Present floated down in front of them. It raised its right hand and caused stone pillars to rise from the ground, surrounding the entire setting.

"We're stuck. We have to fight that thing." Kite said.

"444h! N07 7h47 7hin9!"

"Huh? Sora?"

"7h47… 7h47 m0n573r… i7 100k5 1ik3 7h47 7hin9 7h47 M0r94nn4 cr3473d!"

Sora stepped back, recalling how he was imprisoned in Skeith's wand some time ago.

"_Die…._" Present moved to ground level and was within attack range. Kite jumped forward and slashed outward with both blades, but the beast had moved to the other side of the enclosed area instantly.

'_Ugh… this one's fast…_.' Kite thought as he turned to use the Staccato skill on it but couldn't react quick enough to select the skill when it got near. Its movements made it impossible to be within range for magic and Mistral was wearing down her skill points and items just trying to keep the team alive from its attacks.

"I'm going in!" Blackrose shouted.

"_….. Pha Juk Rom._" Present said as the level four earth spell knocked all three players to less than 50 HP.

"Phal Repth!" Mistral said, healing all members completely.

"We can't keep this up forever. Kite! Think of something!"

"How come I always have to think of something every time?"

"You're the group leader, why else?"

"Well, it would be good if you or Mistral would contribute to thinking of strategies."

"I'm busy just trying to stay alive over here!"

"Sorry, but I have to make sure you two don't get killed! Any more Rip Maens and I'll be outta SP!" Mistral added.

"Hey! Quit the chatter and get busy with that data bug, phase, or whatever it is!" Lios said as his bulgy character model appeared and hovered above the three. Present looked at him and snapped its sharp fingers. In an instant, the NPC like character was turned into a round pink pig.

"Whadda? He just turned Lios into a pig!" Kite pointed at the newly formed Lios.

"Hm… actually, I think it suits him pretty well." Blackrose said. Present held out its other arm at Lios and cast Vulcan Pha. The fire from the summon spell soon cleared after a few moments. All that remained of the administrator was 6 strips of over done bacon.

"Uh… is bacon even programmed into this game?"

"I don't know, but seeing how things have been a bit crazy lately, I doubt there is anything that isn't possible for the time." Kite said.

"_I have had enough of this. It is time I finish all of you._" The beast held up its right hand and a familiar looking bracelet appeared around its wrist.

"DATA DRAIN?" the group exclaimed. Present soon unleashed the tendrils of data, but rather aiming them in one direction, the lines of coding spread in all directions. Three hitting the players as they were infected with all status effects and stat down's possible.

"Ugh… more like Drain Arc…" Kite managed to say.

"What do we do? This thing is too powerful. Even for us!"

"This monster is getting on my nerves! And why the hell would it name itself 'Present' anyway?"

"Well, Lios did say it tampered with the system data that was connected to the prize for the Spring of Myst event. It probably took it and named itself that."

"That thing has our prize? It's because of this that we only got a fortune wire?" Blackrose's eyes were filled with fire. "As soon as these effects wear off, I'm going to kick its sorryass all the way to Net Slum!"

"Do you two find it funny how Present hasn't attacked us since it used 2128 Drain on us?" Mistral finally said.

"Hm?" Kite shifted the camera angle to look at Present. It was just floating in the air and not doing anything. It remained perfectly still like a statue. "weird…" Everyone's status effects wore off by that point. Blackrose was the first to attack, using all SP she still had left to damage Present as much as possible even after project break and before data drain.

"Blackrose! That's enough! It won't get any weaker while it's still in its invulnerable mode." Mistral informed. The heavyblade just continued to whack at the monster.

"I don't think she'll stop…" Kite said as he held out his right arm. The blue and green shards of the bracelet formed around his wrist and began expanding. "Data… DRAIN!" five tendrils of data shot out of the bracelet and collided with the monster. Present was reduced to but a collection of floating stones that somewhat resembled his original form.

"Alright, let's get it! Mistral! Blackrose!" The trio attacked in unison. Blades and magic combined to take down the beast in a matter of seconds.

"Hey! All right. Way to go!" Crim said from atop one of the stone columns surrounding the area.

"Hmmm… y0u'r3 4 107 57r0ng3r 7h4n y0u 100k." Sora said.

"Hey! Wait a minute! Were you two just standing there the whole time?" Blackrose yelled.

"Oh, well, yeah. We…"

"Why the heck didn't you come down and help? You must have seen how badly we were loosing!"

"50rry, 8u7 4f73r my 3xp3ri3nc35 wi7h 50m37hing 1ik3 7hi5, I d0n'7 w4nn4 g37 inv01v3d."

"Hate to say it, but I was scared of what may happen if I lost to something like those bugs."

"You chickens! Why I otta…"

"Uh... Blackrose…" Kite stepped in front of his partner, trying to prevent any more conflict.

"Good work. I see you got rid of it." Lios' character appeared next to the group. "I was finally able to log back on."

"Hey! Now that the monster was killed, don't we get our prize for the event?"

"Yes, you do. This area here was originally the location to the prize. Coincidentally, the monster had also stationed itself here."

"So, what's our prize anyway?"

"Y34h. 5pi7 i7 0u7."

"Actually, this is Kite's, Blackrose's, and Mistral's reward. They were the group that defeated the monster. So I'm afraid you two aren't even supposed to be here now that it's over."

"Huh? Hey, wait a min…" Before Crim could say anything else, the Sora and him were warped out of the area.

"One thing that still puzzles me is why Present just stood there after Drain Arc." Kite said.

"I believe I can answer that." came a voice from above. A familiar white-clad wave master slowly floated down next to the group.

"Helba."

"It's been a while Kite. Anyway, I was analysing data from that fight. It seems this 'Present' is failed copy of Skeith."

"That would explain why it looks a like."

"Yes. It also seems that this failed version couldn't contain the data for executing data drain abilities. So it put itself in a temporary overload and couldn't move for the time being."

"Ah. I get it now."

"Although I must commend it on how it handled our pig-headed friend here." Helba said pointing her staff at Lios.

"So, what is the prize for the Spring of Myst event anyway?" Blackrose asked, getting anxious.

"Ah, yes. Your present from CC Corp is…."

NEXT AND FINAL CHAPTER: PRESENT

Preview: Kite and co. have been on quite a crazy adventure. Now they can all relax.

A/n- I know how I'm leaving it at such a cliffhanger, but don't fret. I'll have the next chapter up within 24 hours.


	10. Present

.hack/PRESENT

Here it is. Final chapter to .hack/PRESENT

A/N: Sorry! I couldn't reach the 24-hour deadline like I promised in the previous chapter. My teachers had bombarded me with homework that day, but now that I got that out of the way, I can continue writing.

Disclaimer: Phew. This is the final time I'll be saying I don't own .hack

CHAPTER 10: PRESENT

"A hot spring?" Kite, Blackrose, and Mistral said in unison.

"Yes. The Spring of Myst for the event was actually suppose to be a hot spring in a isolated area. Of course, during the time, we had trouble with that data bug." Lios explained.

"It was originally called the Twilight Springs which was used in 'The World' before."

"There was a hot spring already in this game?" Mistral asked.

"…well… yes, and no." Helba said, recalling the same spring being located in a parallel plane of reality known as "GIFT".

"You can warp to this area anytime during the game even if you're in a different field as long as you're not in battle mode. You can restore all your SP, HP, and recover from any status effects from battles."

"Alright! I can give my staff a rest with this spring." Mistral said cheerfully.

"Hm?" Lios' character stood still for a moment. "What! Damn it! That 'Present' monster tampered with data outside this area. You three will have to stay here as the root town is temporarily down." Lios logged out to get to work on the matter.

"Well, if you excuse me, I have some work of my own I need to attend to." Helba said as she logged off.

"Hey, why don't we try out the hot spring? I'm tired out from that battle."

"Yeah. I could use a refreshing bath as well."

"Uh… yeah, you two go ahead, I'll be out over there." Kite said.

"But Kite, you're under a poison effect." Mistral informed.

"Huh?" Kite looked at his mug at the bottom of the screen. He hadn't realized his character had been poisoned from the data drain he performed. To his misfortune, neither he nor his allies had any antidote on them and neither had any skills for treating the effect. Not to mention his HP was on the verge of dropping to zero. "I guess I should go in first, huh?"

* * *

"Alright, there's nothing in between us now. I say we finish what we started." Crim said drawing his spear. 

"Y0u'r3 57i11 g0ing 0n 480u7 7h47 847713? Fin3 7h3n! I c4n 8347 y0u wi7h0u7 3v3n u5ing my 814d35!" Sora said as he unequipped his retractable blades.

"Then what are you fighting with?"

"With these!" Sora pulled out two maracas.

"What? This is a joke, right?"

"N0p3."

"Those things don't stand a chance against me!"

"W311, 533 h0w y0u 1ik3 7hi5!" Sora dashed toward Crim and started knocking on his head multiple times. As he moved about, mariachi band music began playing in the background.

"Ow! Hey! What kind of item is that? Ow!" Crim said trying to fight back against Sora's blows.

"50rry, n0 7311."

"AHA! Thou have located the culprit again!" Piros had appeared next to Crim.

"0h 8r07h3r. I 7h0ugh7 I w0u1d 47 13a57 kn0ck 50m3 53n53 in70 y0ur 8r4in. Wh473v3r. I c4n 74k3 y0u 807h 0n 47 0nc3!"

"Then Thou shall determine that! RAAAH!" Piros shouted as he ran toward Sora waving his axe in the air.

"Y4wn. Wh47 4 80r3." Sora stepped to the side with a single leg sticking out causing the heavyaxeman to trip. "Hmmm… p3rh4p5 7h47 8rick I 7hr3w 47 y0u m4d3 y0u 1355 c00rdin473d."

"And that's another thing I want to settle with you!" Crim yelled as he dove after Sora. As he was about to swing his spear, something landed in front of him and pointed a blade at his face.

"You still need to repent for the wing you destroyed!" Balmung said with an angry look at Crim.

"I thought I explained that I'll find a way to fix it. But Right now I…"

"Either you fix it now, or I kill you! My wings are what make me Balmung of the Azure Sky! Without them I cannot ascend to the blue above!"

"I 533 y0u h4v3 y0ur h4nd5 fu11. I'11 ju57 134v3 y0u f0r n0w. 8uh 8y3!" Sora said as he jumped up and gated out.

"Hey! Wait! Get back here! Damn it!"

"Ahem." Balmung said.

"Listen. If you want all the details, it's because of that twinblade that you lost your wing. If he hadn't moved out of the way I would have….AH!" Crim blocked a strike from Balmung's sword. '_Not this again._'

* * *

"aaahhh… this is so relaxing." Mistral said. 

"Agreed. Who'd of thought there was a hot spring in this game?" Blackrose said. She and Mistral took their time rather thanKite whohad only stayed in the spring just enough to heal the poison and got out. He stayed in the street section of the area, swinging his blades at an imaginary monster.

"Well, now that this is all over, I wonder what else there is to do."

"There's the item completion event that's still going on. I only have 92 more items to go!"

"What do you win out of that event anyway?"

"Well, I hear you win this great, huge, rare, ultra…" Before Mistral could continue, a noise sounding like a thump was heard off in the distance. Ripples in the hot spring begun to appear with every 'thump' that went by (picture Jurassic Park and the water rings in the glass.) "Huh? What's that?"

"I don't know. It couldn't be a monster. Could it?"

Kite stopped swinging his swords as the shaking of the ground intensified and the thumping got louder.

"Hey! What's going on out here?" Blackrose said after getting dressed followed by Mistral.

"I don't know. But I doubt it's just here to say hello." Kite said getting in twinblade stance. A large structure was advancing toward the group. As it came closer, they got a better view of it. A large gift-wrapped box at least 50 feet tall had moved forward and stopped in front of the trio.

"Oooooo… There must be a really cool item inside this thing!" Mistral said as she ran up to it. Unfortunately, the giant present turned out to be a monster. As the wavemaster got close, the mighty gift box revealed its fangs and unleashed an earth-trembling roar. "AAAAHH! What is this thing?" Mistral quickly ran behind Kite and Blackrose.

"That gift box… it's…" Kite looked at the top of the beast as the lid slid open and hundreds of thousands of tendrils of ribbon came sprawling through the air and shooting in all directions. "LOOK OUT!" Kite dove to the side to avoid an incoming strand of ribbon that punctured through the rocky ground. The twinblade ran around the already implanted ribbons in the ground and dashed in to attack the enormous box. To his surprise, the monsters HP was already reading zero on it's health meter. All attacks Kite executed did absolutely nothing except create the sound effect heard when attacking any monster. "Wha…? Nothing works…"

The enormous gift let out another ground-shaking roar. As it let it out, everything around started becoming white with static in the background until the screen was nothing but a white blur.

* * *

SYSTEM ERROR… SYSTEM ERROR… SYSTEM ERROR…

* * *

Kite removed the neuro goggles. He reset his computer and tried logging back on, but the system error message only repeated itself. A day later, he received a e-mail from CC Corp and one from Helba.

* * *

_To all 'The World' Users,_

_We apologize for the system error message that is appearing whenever one tries to log on. We should have the server back running in about a week or so. Until then, please be patient. Thank you._

_-CC Corp._

* * *

_Dear Kite,_

_I was doing some research, and I may have some answers behind the system error that occurred the other day. That monster you saw in the area you were at seems to have programming and coding that is very similar to the eight phases. If I'm correct, that giant gift box you saw may be linked to this "Spring of Myst" event. That includes the encounter with Skeith imitation you saw. I'll e-mail you if I have any more information._

_-Helba_

* * *

What was going on here? Kite knew he may be called again very soon to take care of matters involving the system failure. It was getting late. He turned off his computer and turned out the lights.

* * *

THE END? Of course not. Be sure to keep your eyes open for the sequel .hack/REWARD. Kite and co. sets off on another adventure but the areas they are to investigate aren't what you'd normally see in 'The World'.

Until then, see ya.

A/N: Thank you everyone who has reviewed this story so far. I just love the feed back.


End file.
